Category: Politics

News stories of Politics, for the topics that matter the most to young professionals and college students, political news reported with a different angle.

  • Storm blows away domes of Kartarpur Sahib within months of inauguration

    At least two domes recently constructed outside the perimeter of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Shakargarh collapsed due to a thunderstorm and high-speed winds in the area, drawing strong reactions from people of both Pakistan and India.

    The two domes at Darbar Sahib Kartarpur of the Kartarpur Corridor — the visa-free border crossing and a secure corridor connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to the border with India — fell off due to strong winds coupled with heavy rain showers in Punjab over the weekend.

    No injury was reported as a result of the domes falling off.

    The material used in the construction of the domes raised serious concerns over the quality of the material used in the Kartarpur Corridor. It was alleged that the domes, that appear to be hollow from the inside, were constructed using fibre instead of cement and iron.

    Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry said the matter had been addressed before the Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri with a request for an immediate inquiry.

    Frontier Works Organization (FWO) — a military engineering organisation — had been assigned to ensure the immediate renovation of the damaged domes, which ensured the completion of repair work within 48 hours.

  • KP public health director tests positive for COVID-19

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Public Health Director Dr Ikramullah Khan has tested positive for the new coronavirus — COVID-19 –, provincial Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra revealed on Monday.

    The minister paid tribute to Dr Ikramullah, thanking him for his service and calling him an asset everyone was proud of. He also lauded the efforts of “thousands of other frontline workers” fighting the virus in the province and all across Pakistan.

    The minister was of the view that the next few months would be difficult on many fronts but he and his team members were committed to beat the virus with “resolve, discipline and unity”.

    KP’s focal person on coronavirus, Zain Raza, also wished Dr Ikramullah “speedy recovery and health”, acknowledging his role as being on the frontline of the province’s coronavirus response team.

    https://twitter.com/smzrz/status/1249608325085396992?s=20

    The number of infections in Pakistan, by the time this report was filed, stood at 5,478, of which 744 cases were from KP.

  • Malik Riaz shuts down Aap News

    Malik Riaz shuts down Aap News

    Bahira Town chairman and property tycoon Malik Riaz has shut down Aap News due to “unavoidable legal and technical reasons”, an e-mail to the channel’s staff revealed on Saturday.

    The broadcast of the news channel will stop today.

    Furthermore, as mentioned in the email, “The administration has decided that salaries of all employees for March will be paid on April 14 and 15 while the payment of salaries for the notice period between April 11 and May 11 will be paid on April 21 and 22.”

    Riaz will use his licencing rights to launch a new channel where employees of Aap News will be hired on a “priority basis”.

    The email further stated that employees would receive 50 per cent of their monthly salaries on the 5th of each month for the next three months. 

  • Sindh for stricter lockdown as ‘greater than world average’ tests positive in 24 hours

    Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah on Saturday cautioned that there wasn’t “much good news” and the province needed a stricter lockdown as 20 per cent of coronavirus tests, conducted in his province in the past 24 hours, had come out positive, ringing danger bells as Pakistan continues to struggle in the battle against the global COVID-19 pandemic.

    In a video released by his office’s Twitter account, CM Shah disclosed that the number is greater than the world average at the moment. According to him, 919 people are still under treatment in the province.

    National coronavirus tally currently stands at 4,901. These include 2345 cases in Punjab, 1318 in Sindh, 656 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 220 in Balochistan, 215 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 114 in Islamabad Capital Territory and 33 in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK).

    The number of cases has continued to soar despite the country being under lockdown for the third consecutive week now.

    While the death toll, according to the national database, stands at 71, some 762 people have so far recovered.

    Meanwhile, the KP government has asked people to remain extra careful for the next few weeks.

    “The next few weeks are going to be critical for us. People are requested to follow the precautionary measures we have put in place,” KP CM’s Advisor on Information Ajmal Wazir said during a media briefing.

    According to Wazir, the people of the province have responded well to the government’s call for precautions.

    “However, we are facing the problem of accommodating daily wage workers and as per the prime minister’s instructions, we are working to provide them with daily necessities,” he said.

  • Religious, cultural misconceptions of COVID-19 in Pakistan

    IPSOS is an international firm that produces data on the global market and public opinion across the world. From April 4 to 7, they polled 1,000 people across Pakistan to evaluate how Pakistanis treated myths and misconceptions regarding COVID-19.

    The sample size is from all the provinces and territories of Pakistan: Punjab, 57%, Sindh, 22%, Balochistan, 6%, KP, 10% and AJK, 5%. The age bracket is from 18 to 50 plus, and social-economic status is from higher to lower income holders, as shown in the picture below.

    COVID-19 MYTHS IPSOS SNAP POLL

    The results are overwhelming. As per the report, only “2 people out of 5 can correctly recall the official helpline (1166) to report COVID-19 cases, rest are either unaware or cannot recall correctly.”

    COVID-19 MYTHS IPSOS SNAP POLL

    RELIGIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTIONS

    Moreover, Pakistanis have alarming religious and scientific misconceptions on COVID-19. According to the data: 82% believe that “they can remain protected if they do wudu 5 times a day. “67% believe that “Allah has control over all viruses so congregation prayer in the mosque (jamaat) cannot infect anyone with the virus. 58% think that if “once the summer hear starts, the coronavirus will disappear.” 48% says that “shaking hands is Sunnah, so they cannot infect anyone with COVID-19 by doing so.”

    Other majors misconceptions are mentioned below in the slide.

    COVID-19 MYTHS IPSOS SNAP POLL

    CONSPIRACY THEORIES

    Apart from religious and scientific misconceptions, a large number of Pakistanis have controversial misconceptions on COVID-19. 43% in Pakistan see COVID-19 as a “foreign conspiracy by America and Israel to weaken us (Pakistan).” 43% believe that they “should avoid people from certain sects or faiths, as they are more prone to coronavirus.” 39% think “Women who breastfeed should be in ablution/wudu all the time, so they don’t transfer COVID-19 to the baby. 30% is off the view that “only sweepers and domestic workers can contract the virus because they’re not clean.”

  • Slain reporter Aziz Memon offered resistance at time of murder, says autopsy

    Slain reporter Aziz Memon offered resistance at time of murder, says autopsy

    A meeting of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the murder of Aziz Memon, the journalist who exposed train march of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari from March 2019, has been summoned after the post-mortem report of the victim hinted that he did not go down without a fight.

    The post-mortem report issued by forensic experts found traces of particles of more than one person other than that of the victim under his nails. The report said that it shows that the journalist offered resistance before being murdered.

    The brother of the victim, Hafeez Memon, while commenting on the report said that it proves that he was killed.

    The JIT meeting has been summoned at the office of the Shaheed Benazirabad deputy inspector general (DIG), wherein the members would decide to pursue the case as per the findings of the autopsy.

    The JIT also summoned former SHO [Station House Officer] of Mehrabpur area and others in the light of the video statement released by the journalist before his murder. The JIT has also summoned the victim’s brother.

    READ: Reporter, who ‘exposed’ Bilawal’s train march, ‘murdered’

    A local court had on March 12 ordered to exhume the body of the journalist after approving the plea of the JIT probing to ascertain reasons for his death.

    The investigation team had said they found many flaws in the previous post-mortem report that stated the cause of death was suffocation but it did not mention the details of Memon’s murder.

    Memon, who was a resident of Mehrabpur city and an employee of Kawish Television Network (KTN) as well as Sindhi daily Kawish, was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch in Naushahro Feroze earlier this year.

  • Praise for PM, his team as ‘historic’ social assistance programme to tackle coronavirus is launched

    Pakistan has launched the largest social protection effort in the country’s history with plans to pay close to $1 billion dollars to the poor in an effort to counter the economic fallout amid the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — outbreak, CNN reported.

    The Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme is a financial assistance effort to assist parts of the population that have been worst hit by the ongoing lockdown in the country, according to Sania Nishtar, special assistant to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety.

    The programme, which aims to cover 12 million families, is meant to assist them to “buy rations so that they don’t go hungry”.

    The premier himself has also lauded the “historic” transfer of cash to the needy, terming it a “great achievement” of his government.

    “Today saw the launch of the biggest cash distribution by any government in Pakistan’s history, directly to the most vulnerable and needy citizens in our society,” he said in a series of tweets.

    Authorities have used SMS messages and Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) numbers from the country’s extensive National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) to identify and contact eligible families.

    By the time this report was filed, the number of confirmed cases in Pakistan stood at 4,688 with 68 fatalities and 727 recoveries.

  • Coronavirus: Lahore jail’s ‘mysterious’ patient zero who infected 58 prisoners in 20 days

    Coronavirus: Lahore jail’s ‘mysterious’ patient zero who infected 58 prisoners in 20 days

    Lahore’s Camp Jail has been vacated and turned into a 100-bed quarantine centre after at least 58 prisoners tested positive for the new coronavirus — COVID-19. But who is the mysterious patient zero and how did he contract the virus before passing it on to such a large number of inmates in just 20 days?

    According to The News, a total of 490 prisoners were exposed to patient zero who developed COVID-19 symptoms back on March 18. He complained of fever to the jail authorities and upon testing, his test result for the virus came positive. Following this, three other prisoners who were close to him also tested positive. The jail authorities then asked for tests of other inmates locked up in the same barracks as the patients, and initially, 19 other’s coronavirus tests also came positive.

    As the matter was looked into, the prison authorities realised that 490 inmates imprisoned in nearby barracks were also exposed to the mysterious patient zero. With it taking them 20 days to decide on vacating the jail, 58 of the said inmates tested positive for COVID-19.

    But who is patient zero?

    According to authorities, patient zero is a Pakistani-Italian who came to Pakistan in December 2019. On March 8, 2018, he was going back to Italy when the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) found on him six kilograms of heroin. With the drugs being seized, he was arrested and sent to Camp Jail.

    Authorities claim that his family is a frequent traveler and that was how he contracted the virus. “His family had also recently traveled from Italy and patient zero developed COVID-19 symptoms 10 days after his imprisonment,” they said.

    Meanwhile, Punjab government spokesperson Musarrat Cheema confirmed that Camp Jail had been vacated and converted into a 100-bed quarantine center.

    “There are more than 2,700 prisoners in Camp Jail. The Punjab government has converted the jail into a 100-bed quarantine centre for prisoners. A medical team of Services Hospital has also been assigned to look after this quarantine centre,” she informed, adding that a total of 490 prisoners were exposed to the patient at the jail.

    “Initially, the tests of 19 prisoners came positive and they were quarantined there. But as of April 9, the number of COVID-19 positive prisoners has reached 58. The remaining prisoners are being shifted to other cities, including Lodhran and Hafizabad. So far, 1,100 prisoners have been shifted to Hafizabad, 258 have been sent to Lodhran whereas the rest of the prisoners are being shifted to other jails across the province. There will be no prisoner in Camp Jail from today [Friday] onwards.”

  • PM asks Muslims to ‘pray on Shabe Baraat tonight’, deletes tweet after people tell him it was yesterday

    PM asks Muslims to ‘pray on Shabe Baraat tonight’, deletes tweet after people tell him it was yesterday

    In a Twitter blunder on Thursday, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan asked Muslims “to offer special Nuwafil prayers and seek Allah’s blessings and forgiveness on the occasion of Shabe Baraat tonight”, later deleting his tweet when people told him the night had already been observed a day ago.

    “I would request Muslims all over the world to offer, tonight on the occasion of Shab e Baraat special Nuafil prayers to Allah and seek His Blessings and Forgiveness [sic],” the premier tweeted on Thursday afternoon.

    While he deleted the tweet amid criticism for not knowing that the night had already been observed, here’s a screen grab:

    Twitterati, as usual, did not let go of the blunder easy:

    https://twitter.com/Andyrockz2012/status/1248190024497037313

    Mid-Sha’ban or Shabe Baraat is a holiday observed by Muslim communities on the night between 14 and 15 of the Islamic month of Sha’ban. It is regarded as a night when the fortunes of individuals for the coming year are decided and when Allah forgives sinners.

  • ‘Coronavirus putting world on track for new Great Depression,’ WTO

    ‘Coronavirus putting world on track for new Great Depression,’ WTO

    International trade is on the brink of collapse due to COVID-19 pandemic, and the results can be as severe as of 1930s Great Depression, The Guardian reported.

    According to World Trade Organization (WTO), the trade might shrink by 13%, and in the worst-case scenario, the trade will shrivel down to 32%; a bigger drop than 2008-09 recession caused by banking crises.

    Director general of WTO also added that an end to the trade tension between the US and China would help minimise the dire effects caused by the pandemic.

    He further added, “We need to lay the foundations for a strong, sustained and socially inclusive recovery. Trade will be an important ingredient here, along with the fiscal and monetary policy.”

    As per the official statement of WTO, recovery of trade is expected next year, but it is largely depended on the duration of the outbreak and the effectiveness of policy responses.